Czech Republic to hold snap election

POLITICIANS have voted to dissolve parliament's lower house and hold an early election in the Czech Republic, following a coalition government's collapse over scandals.

On Tuesday all but seven of the 147 legislators present approved the early ballot, 20 more than the required three-fifths majority in the 200-seat lower house.

Czech President Milos Zeman has proposed calling the early vote for October 25-26.

The opposition left-wing Social Democrats stand a good chance of winning the election.

The vote was widely expected after several major coalition and opposition parties agreed that an early election would be the best way out of the crisis. It was triggered by June's collapse of the centre-right coalition government of Prime Minister Petr Necas in a whirlwind of corruption allegations and marital infidelity.